Our 22nd slice of toast - Beans

"Beans means Heinz", Grace chants monotonously leading up to the event.  I'm not convinced by this phrase, as I feel Branston beans can offer as much of the taste and for less of the price.  When I arrived at the shop though, both brands were priced exactly the same.  This of course left me in a bit of a predicament.  Should I play safe with Heinz or prove that Branston are just as good?  I decided to play it safe as it was too early for that kind of daredevil behaviour.  I can only assume that the prices were matched due to an nation wide increase in mindful Branston customers.

I don't think I need to either recommend this or not, as we've all had beans on toast.  There's even a singer song writer called beans on toast.  He knows its popular and rightly so.

Our 21st slice of toast - Tomatoes

I love tomatoes, however you decide to pronounce them.  I thought everyone did until I sat there for lunch with 4 friends, to find that 3 of them didn't.  This wasn't just dislike either, this was hatred.  Our friend Kerry was disgusting that the only other sane tomato lover on the table accepted one from me to actually eat, whilst Grace screwed up in profound discomfort as she attempted to eat her very thinly sliced tomatoes on toast.  They were cut up so thin that only half an average sized tomato had been used.  Nevertheless, she finished her slice and was proud of it!  And I was proud of her too, despite my dismay.

So for tomato lovers, it goes very well with toast.  For tomato haters, just leave it alone.

Our 20th slice of toast - Peanut butter and banana

This really is a classic.  It is also a low GI option suitable for diabetics and those attempting to lose the pounds.  It is also a great option for those who are just looking for an awesome snack.  Back on the pricey crunchy Sunpat peanut butter, applied liberally and topped with mushed banana.  We both knew we would love it and it did not disappoint.

However, no single topping can please everyone and I don't recommend this to anyone with a nut allergy, nor our choice of bread to someone with a wheat intolerance.  It had wheat in it, you see.

Our 19th slice of toast - Raisin and cinnamon spread

Grace concocted this spreadilicious cocktail of a topping.  Cinnamon proved a most welcome toast topping back when we tried sugar a cinnamon, so my hopes were high for this one, though Grace remained sceptical.  In a bowl, she mixed 2 large spoons of cream cheese (the Aldi kind), 2 large spoons of cottage cheese, 2 heaped teaspoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and a single handful of raisins.  For reference, Grace's hand is 172mm from wrist to middle finger tip.

Grace wanted to blend the mixture but we didn't have one handy, which proved fortunate as we enjoyed the raisin bits and despite these, the recipe spread well across the surface of the toast and the cinnamon once again prevailed a mighty taste.  A great choice should you have these ingredients lying around.

Our 18th slice of toast - S'mores

Taking a traditional campfire recipe to the toast with a dash of ingenuity to get it there.  We purchased some pots of marshmallow pieces and a large aero bar.  We melted the marshmallows on the back of the Flora lid which then spread easily across the toast.  We then crushed the aero bar and sprinkled this over the marshmallow.

This was the most sickly slice of toast I have ever eaten but we did each have a lot of marshmallows and I am a man of savoury after all.  Grace of course is a girl of sweet and this sugary slice threw her in to her element.  Full enjoyment factor for Grace, though later admitted she did feel a little sick after.  It was good, but I wouldn't recommend it for a snack to lock your hunger up for a few hours, because it won't.  But for a quick treat, most sweet teeth would probably be satisfied after a single slice.

Our 17th slice of toast - Dipped in coffee

Now i'm a coffee fan.  I wouldn't put myself down as a connoisseur as I couldn't tell the difference between a Nero and a Starbucks espresso without looking at the cup it is being served in.  But I would like them both.  Grace on the other hand doesn't like coffee.  She is forced to smell it each day as all the caffeine reliant engineers brew cup after cup in the office, so slowly the smell is growing on her but the taste is still so very despised.

We went for an instant coffee, so not to spoil my current delicious filter coffee (Taylors of Harrogate Guatemalan Cloud Forests) with butter and toast crumbs.  Unsurprisingly, Grace didn't enjoy this one at all, putting on her very best 'i'm not enjoying this' face for the entirety.  So sadistically I made sure she dipped every bite.  Unfortunately I didn't like this one either - it just didn't work.  But I still dipped every bite anyway.

Our 16th slice of toast - Dipped in hot chocolate

It's one thing dipping a biscuit in your hot beverage of choice, but toast? I was dubious, but lets all be yes men aye? I gave it a go. Grace was excited of course, as it contained chocolate. She also went for butter on the toast, claiming "it's all dairy". Well that certainly persuaded me so I got stuck in with the spreading.

Now take a caramel chocolate digestive and you can hold that baby in the drink for a minute without problems. Don't do that with toast. It will fall in. Fortunately, neither of us found out the hard way and using ace dipping techniques such as that shown pictorially above, successfully dipped our entire slices, each dip achieving maximum absorption in no more than 2 seconds.  We did end up with a couple grains round the edges and a nice buttery film across the top, but we soon gulped those down. We very much enjoyed this one.

Our 15th slice of toast - Mashed banana and almonds

Like preparing food for a baby, I got stuck in to mashing our banana up on a plate. We wanted flaked almonds but instead made do with ground almonds - all the taste but with textural despair. I mashed that banana up good, completely eliminating the need for that chewing process we all do, adding almonds as I go. The finished product spread easier than jam - even Grace did a good job. She is improving.

The taste was excellent. The banana taste becomes stronger and slightly sweeter, much like when the banana is bruised. The almonds certainly provided a nutty addition, though we would have preferred to get some proper almond bits in there to turn that enjoyment factor up a notch.  Still worth a go though.

Our 14th slice of toast - Honey butter

NOT to be confused with butter and honey spread separately on your toast. Oh no. This is quite different, though I couldn't say which I prefer.

We mixed the Essex honey (again advantageous for local hayfever) and butter together 50/50. We also zapped it for a few seconds in the microwave to soften the butter slightly, allowing a better mix. I'm not exactly sure why it was different to applying them separately, but it was, so try it!

Our 13th slice of toast - Cream cheese, pineapple and banana

Now this was an interesting combination.  Take cream cheese - savoury.  Now take pineapple - sweet.  But banana? Now that's something in between. The banana seemed to act as a platform between savoury and sweet, allowing the taste buds a transition between the two opposing taste sensations. So whilst eating this slice of toast proved a little confusing, we were still able to gain full satisfaction from the wide range of tastes!

Our 12th slice of toast - Cream cheese and jam

Grace and I each opted for our own jam choice.  I went for the jam of the connoisseur - Wilkin and Sons 'sweet tip' raspberry, whilst Grace went for Grandessa strawberry.  She had to remove a small amount of mould from the surface but this did not phase her.

We also tried 2 different application tactics - cheese then jam and jam then cheese.  Take a little peek at the picture.  The messy one was after first applying the jam, followed by an aggressively penetrating cream cheese.  The other used the cream cheese as an efficient solid base, on which the jam was delicately distributed.

In either case, the taste was quite contradictory.  The sweet jam and savoury cheese clashed on the tongue, but we didn't find ourselves complaining.  No.  It was delightful.

Our 11th slice of toast - Vegemite

Vegemite is the Australian Marmite and it just isn't as good.  Although they taste very similar, Marmite is a little sweeter and also a lot more flexible, which can make a mess but helps with spreading.

As with the Marmite, Grace began unimpressed but the nation dividing taste grew on her once more.  The lack of spreading ease is evident on the left slice in the picture, as the bread was lifted up in places like a well used rugby field.

Our 10th slice of toast - Nutella

We love nutella!  The jar required a brief microwave to soften it up as it was a fairly cold day.  This helped us spread smoothly and in abundance!

This slice immediately followed salt on toast (see our 9th slice of toast) and I found that the leftover salt taste in my mouth complimented the nutella wonderfully.  If you haven't tried sea salt chocolate, I recommend that you do.

Our 9th slice of toast - Salt

Yes, salt.  Neither of us expected this to be great, but I thought I would go ahead and put plenty no anyway, dedication and all that.  I regretted it. 

Grace didn't find it all that bad, though gained more enjoyment watching me trying to avoid using my tongue in the eating process.

Our 8th slice of toast - Marmite

You either love it or hate.  I love it.  Grace thought she hated it.  Despite this, she dedicated herself to finish the slice and to her surprise, found that the more she ate, the more it grew on her (not literally).  So with other marmite based toppings to come, Grace may just become another marmite lover!

Our 7th slice of toast - Chipped Beef

This was a hot topping consisting of sautéd dried beef brisket in flour, salt and pepper, followed by adding milk until thickened and stirring in my choice of herbs - thyme and oregano.

Visually, it seemed to represent a dark tuna mayo but don't let that put you fish haters off!  It was very much 'erby beef and a quite wholesome savoury breakfast flavour.  We both rather enjoyed this and it was as easy as scrambled eggs to whip up in a saucepan.  So for those of you with leftover cooked beef in the fridge and the basic kitchen ingredients (flour, milk and seasoning), give this quick recipe a go!

Our 6th slice of toast - Honey

We went for a rather thick choice of Essex honey.  This does of course have advantages leading up to the hayfever season as it contains pollen from local bees and it also tasted great as we are both fans of honey.  So a double thumbs up for this one.

Our 5th slice of toast - Milk toast

The toast was torn in to pieces and eaten in a bowl with milk and sugar.  I have to say, this was one of the worst ways we have ever attempted to enjoy toast, so much so that Grace was unable to finish hers, which of course had nothing to do with her hangover.  I can't recommend this less.  The toast went soggy quickly and the most unwelcomed aftertaste lingered for far too long.  Should you find yourself in a situation where all you have is milk and bread, consume them seperately.  Its just not worth it.

Our 4th slice of toast - Sugar and cinnamon

Our first not so regular slice had us relatively excited and although Grace began sceptical of this choice of toast enjoyment, we were both pleasantly surprised with the outcome - it tasted of hot cross buns!  After spreading with butter, the cinammon and sugar was sprinkled over in an attempted 30/70 split (as recommended by Mr. Breakfast)

Our 3rd slice of toast - Peanut Butter

After rushing through 3 shops this morning, Grace purchased us some Sunpat crunchy peanut butter - luxury, I know.  The result was as expected as we are no strangers to PB!  A perfectly sweetened nutty taste with enough 'stick' to get 'stuck' in your teeth, but not enough to be a nuisance.  Sunpat peanut butter for the whole brigade!

Our 2nd slice of toast - Jam

Our choice of jam was blackcurrent, Tiptree of course, purchased in the cutest little jar.  It really goes without saying that this was a most excellent way to enjoy toast, a classic!

Our 1st slice of toast - butter

Today is the day that Grace and I begin our quest to explore a world of wonderful possibilities and all that is tasty toppings for toast.

To begin, the simple butter and as expected, we experienced a buttery toast.  Unfortunately, Grace found that she had not applied the correct amount of butter and thus found it a little dry in places.  I, on the other hand, was rather pleased.